Former England rugby captain Lawrence Dallaglio has written a letter to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt describing NHS England as a "national disgrace" for going back on a deal to fund cutting-edge cancer treatment, it was reported today.

Dallaglio accused the health service of "turning the clock back" on the way the disease is being treated by not paying for patients to have stereotactic radiotherapy.

The sports star turned charity campaigner, who lost his mother Eileen to cancer in 2008, was asked to work with NHS England on the issue after previously approaching Prime Minister David Cameron with his concerns that not enough patients had access to the treatment.

The process involves targeting radiotherapy very precisely at the tumour, meaning that high doses of radiation can be delivered with less risk of it affecting surrounding organs, but the number of people being offered it has fallen by more than 10% since NHS England took control, the Sunday Times said.

In Dallaglio's letter, parts of which are published in the paper, he accused NHS England of "going back on its word".

He told Mr Hunt: " The way NHS England are approaching this is turning the clock back on the way we're treating cancer. We're not just standing still and doing nothing, we're turning the clock back . It angers me."

He added that the technology that "the rest of the civilised world uses as a matter of routine" would only be used by "pitiful numbers", without a guarantee they would even start being treated in the next financial year.

The sportsman, who won the rugby union World Cup in 2003, has raised millions of pounds for charity since launching the Dallaglio Foundation following his mother's death.

Dr Sean Duffy, NHS England's National Clinical Director For Cancer, said: " If money were no object it would be great to fund every experimental treatment that we are lobbied on, but that's not the reality, so instead our priority this year has been investing hundreds of millions of pounds in cancer and other specialised treatments that are actually proven to work for patients."

Comments (4)

"So, for me, it is not just a question of saying the NHS is safe in my hands - of course it will be. My family is so often in the hands of the NHS, so I want them to be safe there."

He promised "no more pointless and disruptive reorganisations". Instead, change would be "driven by the wishes and needs of NHS professionals and patients"
David Cameron, Conservative Party Conference, 2006.

"So, for me, it is not just a question of saying the NHS is safe in my hands - of course it will be. My family is so often in the hands of the NHS, so I want them to be safe there."
He promised "no more pointless and disruptive reorganisations". Instead, change would be "driven by the wishes and needs of NHS professionals and patients"
David Cameron, Conservative Party Conference, 2006.cliffwalker

CHISSY1 wrote:
But we thew away over £8 billion on overseas aid last year.I am ashamed of the is country.

You're ashamed of helping others less fortunate than yourself? How revolting. £8bn is nothing in terms of the overall budget of the UK, it's almost 1p in every £1 of tax revenue. The other 99p is what we should be worried about. Where is that going? The Royals? Building massive new warships in a pique of penis envy?

And if all millionaires and corporations paid their tax dues, that tax revenue pot would be higher still, allowing more money to be spent on the Health Service. Also, if cigarettes were banned, there would be less cancer full stop.

[quote][p][bold]CHISSY1[/bold] wrote:
But we thew away over £8 billion on overseas aid last year.I am ashamed of the is country.[/p][/quote]You're ashamed of helping others less fortunate than yourself? How revolting. £8bn is nothing in terms of the overall budget of the UK, it's almost 1p in every £1 of tax revenue. The other 99p is what we should be worried about. Where is that going? The Royals? Building massive new warships in a pique of penis envy?
And if all millionaires and corporations paid their tax dues, that tax revenue pot would be higher still, allowing more money to be spent on the Health Service. Also, if cigarettes were banned, there would be less cancer full stop.mocyoung

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